Reading bounced back from their disappointing performance at Dings Crusaders with a quality win against Bristol side Keynsham in this South West Division 1 game.

Winger Mike Crisp led the way with 17 points - from a try, two penalties and three conversions.

Paul Thomas, who had looked a little hesitant on the wing at Dings, put in a good performance and scored a well-taken try, while fly half Dave McEwan scored his fourth try in seven league matches.

The other try came from lock forward Mark Skrypec, in the side as a replacement for the unavailable Mark Vatcher.

Skrypec played well enough, as did his second row colleague Steve Le Roux, to cause some selection discussions during the week.

It was the improvement in the pack which made the win possible. Some of the early scrummaging caused concern but this aspect tightened up as the game went on.

The lineout play was also good, as was support generally around the field, with Graham Sparks making a successful comeback after injury for an hour.

In the centre Danny Barrett maintained his high standards in attack and defence while Jake Hirst made some strong runs, one of which took him 50 metres and could well have led to a try.

Behind the scrum half backs Simon Dyson and McEwan posed a constant threat and it was Dyson who set up Reading's first try.

At the time (25th minute) Reading were leading 6-3, Crisp having cancelled out Joe Williamson's early penalty for the visitors and then added another.

Dyson then picked up in the loose and made a typically elusive run. Crisp, outside him, called for the ball and Dyson timed his pass to perfection for the winger to crash over in the corner.

Five minutes later Paul Thomas scored a fine try as he took a pass and chipped through cleverly before chasing up and touching down. Crisp's conversion put Reading 18-3 up but Williamson's penalty just before half time made the interval score 18-6.

In the second half Reading scored two more tries in the first thirteen minutes to wrap the game up. First there was a typical McEwan try as he jinked inside the opposition and raced 30 yards for the try, which Crisp converted.

Then came a good forwards try as the ball was caught and driven for Skrypec to claim the touchdown. Crisp converted well to bring up the thirty two points.

That was the end of the scoring, as Reading took their foot off the pedal and continual rain made cohesive play more and more difficult.

The visitors never gave up and Reading were grateful for full back Matt Senior's try-saving tackles, particularly on winger Russell Tanner.

The win puts Reading four points behind the leaders with two games in hand. The first of these is at Truro next weekend where they will be looking to build on the momentum of Saturday.